4 Word Club: Jesus' life + examples from Acts

 JESUS’ LIFE + Acts  4 WORDS

 

                               

MARK 1:14-20 Came Near

 

Come near*

ª Math Games 19 Darts without darts

ª Math Games  3 Take three steps forward

Come along

ª Everyone sits with their eyes closed. One person is “it” and silently tags several people. Those who are tagged quietly come along out of the meeting room (into the hallway). Those left in the room and those who went can be counted:  20 (in the group) – 10 = 10; 5 + 15 = 20, etc.

ª The leader names different characteristics. If the characteristic applies to you, you leave the group and come along. Examples might be:  if you ate pasta yesterday, have braided hair, have a little sister, rode a bus last week . . . .

At once

ª Different words and phrases mean at once:  now, immediately, without delay, straight away. Write each word or phrase on a separate piece of paper—enough for everyone in the group (some words will be repeated). Give everyone in the group one of these papers and play “seek the letter.” For example, everyone stands in a line. All the people with a “t” on their paper may take a step forward.

ª Any version of Tag:  when the one who is “it” runs towards you, you react at once.

Follow

ª FUNdament 13.3 Follow the leader

ª Start Games B5: Statues

 

The FUNdament activities, Start Games, Math Games, and Letter Games can be found on Davar: Bridging to Literacy. Translations are available in English, Dutch, Romanian, German (some activities) and Spanish (FUNdament, not yet posted)

 

 

John 6:  Jesus feeds 5000

 

Follow: 

·       FUNdament 10.4. Follow the leader, or have everyone stand in a line. Everyone must follow the leader and do exactly THE SAME as the leader does. Let people in the group take turns being the leader.

Listen: 

·       Start Game F4. How many did you hear?

Five & two:

·       Start Game F3. (Take 2 or 5 steps forward instead of 3)

Bread & fish:

·       Letter Game E3.  Follow a recipe to make simple bread

·       Circle discussion:  how do you catch fish? Draw this.

Multiplication:

Math Game 17-22; choose one

 

 

Lost Coin Lk 15:8-10

 

Coins

Lost

10-1

Rejoice

 

Coins

• Davar FUNdament Thick, Thin, Thickest: 6.7
• Learn the names of coins in local currency. Show kids different local coins & teach them the names for them.
  Or find worksheet online which teaches local currency.
  OR Practice counting with the coins.
  Might demonstrate that 5 of this coin = 1 of that coin; etc.
• Stacking coins—see how high we can get them without tipping them over. (Could be done in teams.) Shows that the more coins you have, the better material standard of living you have.
• Playing store. Set up small store with, among other things, healthy treats (apples, etc.) which the children can ‘buy’. Each child has same number of “coins.”
  
  

Lost

·       Hide the thimble. Take turns hiding something (a thimble, a large play coin, . . .). See who can find it first.

·       Play hide & seek. The one who is “it” must find everyone else. OR play Sardines. The one who is “it” hides (is lost). Everyone else must find that person & join them.

 

10 minus 1; 10

·       Many Math Games

 

Rejoice

·       Start Game A1. Repeat the rhythm. Have a lot of fun making noise

·       Letter Game B8. Make flags together.

 

 

Luke 19:1-10: Zacchaeus

 

Through:

·        Start Game G1: The Road Game

·       Through the Line. Have the children stand in 2 lines, facing each other. The first two in each line moves back and forth through the lines however they wish to move and join the end of the line. The next two move in the same way after them and so on until everyone has gone through the lines.
Continue with a different set of two leaders as long as it is still fun.

Small

·       FUNdament 8.2

·       FUNdament 8.1

Tree

• Leaves of trees. As a group, pick leaves from different kinds of trees. Make cards with the name of the type of tree on them. Take turns laying the right name by the right leaf.
Draw the leaves. Or trace around the leaves and color the trace. Or put the leaves under pieces of paper and draw over with chalk, a crayon, or a pencil to let the shape of the leaf appear on the paper.

• High in the tree. Climb in a tree. Who can climb the highest?

Seek

·       Letter Game B1

·       Letter Game B2

 

Jesus heals and forgives the paralyzed man Mark 2 :3-11 **more needed

 

 Paralyzed

FUNdament 3.4 Soft and hard touch.

Above.  

Imagine you are in a room with a lot of people quiet and listening, all of the sudden a hole is made and… Tell the story as if you are looking at what is happening above you. Tell what a viewer experiences.

 

 What is easy:  to act and to guess? Things you can see! Make two groups, easy wishes to enact and difficult to see:  rich, many children, old, nice hose, good job, happy, satisfied, enough, good future, never alone, blessed. Act and guess

 

Walk.  Who can walk fastest? Do some sport

 

Matthew 18:1-5 Who is Greatest in God’s Kingdom?

 

Greatest

v Activities that would show who was “best” at something.
Series of races, single, not as a team
Silly activity:  Balancing something on top of their head; holding a spoon on your nose; who can sit still the longest.

v FUNdament 2 Small, Big or Same Size

v StartGame C1Shorter/taller

v Synonyms:  discuss words that are similar to greatest (most important; biggest; strongest?) Comparing & deciding what meets that criteria the best. That’s “the greatest.” What is the greatest number? Is no greatest. Always one bigger; no decision on what biggest number can be.

v Position—who is in the first position (most important); best; worst. See the difference with dolls or stuffed animals rather than people.

Like Child

v FUNdament 2.8  Talking to big and small. Pretend to talk to someone and have the group guess who this person is/how old (“big”) this person is and draw a picture of them. Choose from age groups used in the culture. Examples from English:

o   baby

o   toddler

o   school child (6-12 years)

o   teenager

o   adult

o   elder

v Discuss the different ways you talk to people in different age groups.
Have the group discuss what they consider the ideal age.
If it’s appropriate, do this in the mother tongue. How you talk to people of different ages and how people of different ages live is culture-specific.

v Little Child or grown up? (show a little child—either a picture or someone in the group, under 5 years old)
List of activities—who would do this? Going to grocery store. (define activities a child does in comparison to what an adult does)
East or West activity—if you think a child would do that, go stand on East side; if you think an adult would do that, go stand on west. Choose which mind you would be in—in child mind or adult mind.
Walking a dog. Playing in the water. Splashing in a mud puddle.
10 activities that define what a child does & what an adult does (about 5 each).
Maybe have middle line to stand on if think it’s something a child or an adult would do.
Can discuss at end.

v Discuss:  What does the little child have that is different than the grown-ups in the story?
Here is a little child. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you feel?
Here is a grown-up man. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you feel?
Who is more important? Who has more to learn?

Kingdom

v Sing song about Heaven. Example in English:  Heaven is a wonderful place, filled w/ glory and grace, I want to see my Savior’s face, heaven is a wonderful place, I want to go there.
Sing it louder. Sing it softer. Sing in rounds.

v Art project. Heaven being created for us right now. Take natural items (dirt, leaves, whatever) and use them to create a picture or mural.
Beautiful, friendly, peaceful—cut out pictures and glue onto a collage.
Discuss how Heaven is bigger, better, greater than that.

v Letter game. Spell the word KINGDOM. Use a game to find the letters in the room.

v Art project. They could all make a crown. Who’s the king? Discuss who is the ruler, who is in charge (of the group, of the village, of the country).

v Role play who is in charge. Take turns being in charge. How does the “important person” act? How different than children?

Welcome

v How to welcome—in words and in behavior. Is about including.
Again, could have list of words & actions that show including people. (Differs in every culture.)
Bring food to someone who moves into your neighborhood.
List of welcoming things—pull from a hat—have to act it out. Everyone have to guess whether that was behavior or whether that was words.
Act out what they’re supposed to do. 2 thumbs up for words; 1 thumb up for behavior.

v Create a welcome song. Sing it every time a new person comes.

v Game Red Rover. 2 lines of people, holding hands, maybe 20 ft apart. “Red Rover, Red Rover, send Johnnie/Janie right over.” They have to bust through to join the group.

v Choosing & welcoming game (like the Farmer in the Dell) that involves coming into the middle. https://www.dltk-teach.com/rhymes/farmer/song.htm

v Craft: If it’s culturally appropriate, the children can make a WELCOME picture or sign to hang on the door or wall of their house. Write & decorate or color pre-printed word or MAKE WELCOME cards for new people who come.
Make a welcome mat or a welcome sign.
Make a friendship bracelet or ankle bracelet or ring which is given to each new visitor as a welcome gift (beads or braided or knotted—shows that you are a part of us). Can also braid long grass stems or rope or ribbon together. Ribbon or band & all put same pattern on it.

v Welcome Team—demonstrate how to welcome someone into the group. Have the children split up into pairs and take turns welcoming each other.
Ask who would like to volunteer to be on a welcoming team? For the next 6 lessons, have welcome team members take turns welcoming everyone as they come into the group. Make special badges or pins or banners/sashes for the welcome team person to wear.

Background--children in the culture the disciples lived in:  Children in background; seen but not heard; property; humble; last; least.

Luke 10:25-37 Good Samaritan (MvR & Crista Smidt; see separate doc)

 

Jesus and the woman by the well (John 4: 1-42) (Alfinda Herman; see separate doc)

 

Jesus the Good Shepherd (John 10: 1-10) (Aflinda Herman; see separate doc)

 

John 11 Lazarus

Sick

What makes you sick?

·       Eating bad food  FUNdament 6.2 cold/hot

·       Poor hygiene  Start Games C5

·       Accident/danger FUNdament 3.2 and 4.6.

·       Discuss what causes illness:  eating bad food; eating too much of the wrong food & not enough good food; poor hygiene.

OR  What can you do to keep from getting sick?

 

Crying/weeping

·       Letter Game D3

·       Another activity

 

Alive

·       FUNdament 6.4 Plant seeds

·       FUNdament 2.8 Big and small person

 

Arise

·       Stand up game:  everyone lays on the ground. The one who is described/has a certain letter in their name/holds a certain number in their hand may stand up and go sit on the bench.

·       Sing a song with movements that involve standing up, clapping in rhythm, singing with instruments.

Marleen Schönthaler

 

Lk 10:38-42 Mary & Martha (see separate doc for all suggestions)

 

Welcomed

 

Sisters (See also Jacob & Esau are born; “different”)

 

Distracted/focus

 

Need (what we think we need; only need one thing)

 

 

A Widow Gives; Luke 21:1-4

 

Watch/see

·       Play “I spy with my little eye” also known as “I see something” or “20 Questions”(Ik zie ik zie wat jij niet ziet). One person sees something. Everyone else tries to guess what they see. The person who “sees” something can only answer “yes” or “no”.

·       Leader leads the group in “seeing” by asking questions like:

What do you see that is ___________ (a certain color, such as green; red; etc.).
What do you see that is  _________ (a certain shape, such as round, square).
What do you see that is __________ (living. Answers might include a tree; a bug).
Can be made into a team game. The two teams take turns answering the questions & naming what they see. The team that “sees” the most (has the most answers) wins.

·       Scavenger hunt. (Being aware of your environment; watching) See Davar Start Game: Spot the Shapes.
Let’s find something that is a circle . . .
Let’s go find something that is . . . heavy
Can you find something that is . . . smooth

·       Any game from Davar Start Games: Visual Skills.

·       Play Red Light/Green Light or similar game.  Players have to watch to see if someone is moving. The game is also about self-control, because players practice controlling their own bodies.
One person is the caller or “traffic cop”. They stand at the end goal. Everyone else stands behind the starting line. The goal is to get past the caller.
The caller stands with their back to the rest of the group. When the caller says “Green light,” everyone can run towards the goal.
When the caller says, “Red light,” everyone freezes. The caller immediately turns around. If they see anyone moving, that person has to go back to the start line.
Children do not need to be familiar with traffic lights to play this game, as long as the words for moving & for freezing in place are explained to them.

Give

·       Make something & give it to someone else (put a plant in a pot; bake something; make a card; make flowers; cards;). Doesn’t have to be physical things. Could also be helping to pick up for other people. (Davar Letter Games: E3 and E5)

·       Discussion:  what can we give? See what kids come up with. Time, possessions, praise (songs, to God), being nice, pat on the back . . ..
Giving, not keeping for yourself.
Also discuss: How do you give? How did the widow give? What was good about how she gave?

·       Give compliments. Discuss what a compliment is. Model giving compliments. Then have the group practice this. Go around the circle and take turns giving the person next to you a compliment. Or turn to the person next to you and exchange compliments. Model this.

·       Find a Coloring page of woman giving the coins. Everyone colors the picture, then gives it to someone. Reinforces that the children are doing the same thing that the woman in the story did. (See attached for two options; many fun coloring sheets available on Lamb Songs, www.lambsongs.co.nz.)

·       Affirmation. You can give a handshake or a pat on the back. Might do this as a group with each other.

Coins

·       Davar FUNdament Thick, Thin, Thickest: 6.7

·       Learn the names of coins in local currency. Show kids different local coins & teach them the names for them.
Or find worksheet online which teaches local currency.
OR Practice counting with the coins.
Might demonstrate that 5 of this coin = 1 of that coin; etc.

·       Stacking coins—see how high we can get them without tipping them over. (Could be done in teams.) Shows that the more coins you have, the better material standard of living you have.

·       Playing store. Set up small store with, among other things, healthy treats (apples, etc.) which the children can ‘buy’. Each child has same number of “coins.”
Have some items cost 2 coins. That’s what the woman gave—she gave all that she had to live on.
The coins get you something—food, what you need to live.
(For an older group, you might make a sample budget.)

Extra/all

·       Dramatize the story (“Jesus”, “widow”, 1 or 2 “rich people”; everyone else “disciples”). First give a visual of all vs extra. Give the person playing the widow 2 “coins” (blocks, nuts, buttons, play coins); give the rich person a lot more coins. Have the group count the coins that each person is given.

Then have the group watch and count as each person gives into the treasury (a box or something). The rich person gives a lot, but not all of their coins.
Which person gave all?
Which person just gave extra? (if give 50% of what you have)
Compare & contrast the idea of all and extra. Everybody gave—but who gave all and who gave extra? (Had extra for themselves). How much does the rich person have left? (Count as a group)

·       Discuss a team game the group is familiar with that only has a certain number on the team (football, baseball, cricket). If we play this game, can everyone play? Can all the people in the group play this game? Or do we need some to sit out as extras?
Which games can everyone (all) play? (example—Red Light, Green Light).

·       Dress up. Have a set of oversized clothes so that the children can easily put these on over their own clothing; make sure to have one extra of something that there should only be two of. Have a volunteer put on all the clothes. Maybe have 3 shoes instead of 2. That would be an extra. You can’t put on 3 shoes (if you put on all the shoes, you’d have to put them on your hands).

·       Play a relay game with oversized clothes.  The teams. Run to one end of the playing field where the runner has to put on all the clothing (maybe just mittens & a hat? A large t-shirt & a scarf?), then take it all off & run back.

 

 

Crista Smidt & MvR

 

Thoughts to add to Bible Story lesson thread on who Jesus was and what he did:

Jesus gave all for us. Gave everything He had.

Thoughts to add to Bible Story lesson thread on discipleship:

That’s what Jesus notices. Jesus notices the heart of people.

 

Acts 1:1-11

Wait

Tell

Up/sky/cloud

Return

 

Wait

·       Show the children a treat that you will give each one of them . . . at the end of the lesson. They must wait for it.

·       SG F4 Guess how many. The one who guesses must wait until the signal to turn around and see how many are really behind them. 

·       Red light/green light. Everyone must wait until the green light to run. 

 

Tell

·       Telephone Game. Tell something around the circle. 

·       Tell this story, using one of the games for retelling a story. 

 

Up/Sky/Cloud

·       Any cloud game, G3, G4, G6; none in the sky.

·       FUNdament 21 High

 

Return (Go and come back)

·       Relay:  The first team to have everyone go and come back wins. 

·       Road Game. Come and go on the road.

·       Letter Game F2, Run and do. Go to do the task; come back to the line. 

 

Acts 2:1-ff The Holy Spirit Comes

 

Together

Noise

See/saw

Own language

 

Together

·       Discussion:  what do you do together? And where do you come together to do these things? (to learn, to play, to worship God, to pick mushrooms, to sleep . . . )

·       Game:  any Math Game

 

Noise/sound

·       FUNdament 4. 8 Sound of wind, sound of birds singing, sound of rain on the roof, sound of splashing in the water, sound of ….,

·       Discussion about what happens when it storms and the wind really blows;

·       Act out walking in a strong wind.

 

Saw/see

·       Start Games B4

·       Start Games B5

·       Letter Games A4 Drawing dictation. Include something unusual (fire on head, walk on the water, a strong wall that falls, a ladder from heaven with angels on it)

 

Own language

·       Say a sentence in three languages. Have a child repeat it in their mother tongue.

·       Give orders in an unknown language (jump up and down; pat your head . . .). Whoever does it right gets a treat. Then give the same order in the children’s first language. What happens?

·       Letter Games E2 Write a Letter

 

The Four Word Club in Action (Acts 3)

Every week our partner Zoltan Barabas leads two children's clubs in a Roma settlement in Romania. This club has been learning about the first believers (the Acts of the Apostles). 

Zoltan incorporates ideas from the Four Word Club in these lessons.

The Four Word Club chooses four concrete words from a Bible story. The four words can be used to remember and retell the story.

Suggestions for educational activities are given for each of the four words. Zoltan has limited time with each club. He usually chooses only one of the 7-9 possible options. 

"Prayer Time" gives suggestions for discovering and reinforcing what this Bible story teaches us about God and about ourselves. 

Here is a recently used example: 

Acts 3:1-16 Peter & John meet a lame man by the Temple

Four words

• Gate
• Carried
• Look at us
• Walking/leaping

Gate: 

• Make up a game where two children face each other & make a closed gate by holding hands or wrists. The other children stand in a line and come, one-by-one, up to the gate. The "gate" raises their hands to become a doorway. 

Carried:

• Math game with caterpillar multiplication.
• Needed:  strong cloth or blanket. 4 children take hold of each corner and carry a 5th child from here to there. Then the 5^th child jumps and walks back.
• Piggy-back relay race. (might be dangerous)

 

Look at us

• See the difference, Davar Start Game 
• Discussion:  what is polite (in your culture)? Is it polite to look at someone when they talk to you?Is it hard to look at someone when they talk to you? (people on the autism spectrum find this difficult)
  What might you do if someone wants you to look at them?(look at their forehead or their neck instead of their eyes)

Walking & Leaping

• Simon says. Simon says "walk", "leap/jump", "sit on the ground", "stand"; all the things the lame man did.
• Red light/green light, but just with walking and leaping (jumping) instead of stop and go.
• Discussion:  pretend you are really happy. Act like you are really happy. What does that look like? What do you do? Do you ever "jump for joy"?

Prayer time:

Have the children act out the story as you (or one of them) retells it.

Actors:  Peter & John; man & friends who carry him; 2 people as "gate" or "door"; everyone else as amazed people who come running once Peter, John, & the other man walk through the gate. Point out that now the man can walk through the gate into the temple, like everyone else. Jesus heals us. He wants us close to Him.

Culturas orales: Consejos para viajeros del mundo de la impresión.

            Estas entradas de blog sobre los estudiantes y la cultura oral aparecieron por primera vez en la Red de Educación Romaní (blogspot y página de Facebook). Fueron escritos por el pasante de CBF Student Go, Songezo Nkolombe, mientras era estudiante de seminario en el Seminario Truett, Universidad de Baylor en Waco, Texas. Debido a las restricciones de viaje por el COVID-19, su primer año de seminario, así como esta pasantía, se realizaron en línea.

            Songezo aportó una gran experiencia a la pasantía. Se desempeñó como ministro de niños en su iglesia local en Ciudad del Cabo, Sudáfrica. Creció en una ciudad multiétnica. Aunque definitivamente se crió en una cultura impresa, muchos miembros de la familia extendida viven en una cultura oral.

            Songezo participó y contribuyó a las reuniones de proyectos rumanos en Rumanía y Moldavia. Leía mucho y escuchaba mucho. Luego empezó a traducir eso en forma de historia. ¡Qué manera tan oral de ayudar a las personas de las culturas impresas a comprender mejor las culturas orales!

Tim en la ciudad: Una historia de dos pueblos

Hola, amigos:

           Es maravilloso poder escribirte de nuevo. En nuestra última comunicación, compartí sobre mi viaje al pueblo de Tim. Desde entonces, hemos podido hacer arreglos para que Tim experimente la vida en nuestra ciudad. Esta ha sido una oportunidad para mí de ver mi pueblo a través de los ojos de Tim. Hemos tenido momentos de gran aprendizaje. Muchos cuentos serán compartiendo estos puntos con ustedes. Para esta semana, me centraré en una experiencia que sucedió al comienzo de nuestro recorrido.

            Tuve tiempo de preparar un itinerario para nuestro recorrido por la ciudad. Estuvimos más tiempo del esperado en la mayoría de las actividades. Siempre íbamos tarde.

            Nuestra visita al museo fue increíble. Pasamos tanto tiempo hablando con el guía del museo que ni siquiera llegamos a la biblioteca antes de que cerrara. Mis niveles de estrés se dispararon con cada segundo que pasaba de la hora programada. Sorprendentemente, Tim no parecía demasiado molesto por este problema “menor”. Tim parecía disfrutar más de cada una de las experiencias cuanto más tiempo pasamos en cada actividad.

            Recuerdo las palabras de Tim al final de la gira. El preguntó: “¿Por qué sigues persiguiendo la hora?” Y continuó: “Te cansaras antes de que marque la hora. La experiencia vale la pena y el tiempo invertido”. Las palabras de Tim han permanecido en mi mente desde su visita. No había pensado en el tiempo y los eventos de esa manera antes.

            Hasta que volvamos a leer,

            Songz.

Historia de dos pueblos: ¡Muéstranos!

Hola, amigos:

            Volví a visitar el pueblo de Tim. Tuve la oportunidad de observar cómo aprenden los niños.

            Los niños no paran de jugar. Pero me di cuenta de que se les permite jugar con cualquier cosa y con todo. Desde palos y piedras hasta electrodomésticos viejos, casi nada está fuera de los límites. Utilizan el mundo que les rodea para jugar. El autodescubrimiento es parte del proceso de aprendizaje. Es ahí en donde adquieren habilidades y conocimientos a medida que juegan con adultos y otros niños. Sin embargo, desearía que tuvieran más juguetes apropiados para su edad.

            Los más jóvenes se reúnen bajo los árboles en los días soleados y en el interior los días de lluvia. Se mantienen calientes gracias al fuego de las historias. Cuando se cuentan las historias, a cada niño se le da la oportunidad de volver a contar una historia. Este ejercicio les ayuda a ser parte de la historia. Además, esta práctica les ayuda a retener la información. Me di cuenta de que los niños tienen su propia canción sobre la historia. Lo cantan mientras juegan, hacen las tareas escolares, incluso cuando están haciendo sus quehaceres. Una de las historias que a los ancianos les encanta contar es la historia de los primeros pobladores del pueblo. Me sorprendió cómo los niños pudieron volver a contar esta historia. Había memorizado todos los hechos que ocurren en la historia.

            Hay un dicho que los niños repiten a menudo: “Si quieres que te escuchemos, muéstranoslo. ¡No nos lo digas!”. Incluso tienen una melodía pegadiza para ello. Prefieren la información en imágenes o videos. Esto es extraño para mí. Pienso en palabras y frases. Mis imágenes están hechas de palabras y mis videos son oraciones.

            Tuve que probar este extraño dicho. Vi a una niña montando en bicicleta a casa, así que le pregunté quién le enseñó a andar en bicicleta. Parecía confundida por la pregunta. Con el tiempo, me dijo que aprendió observando a otros a montar bicicleta. Esto era extraño para mí. En nuestro pueblo, los niños son enseñados por sus padres o hermanos a andar en bicicleta. Un niño es entrenado hasta que es capaz de montar sin ayuda. No es algo que exploren por su cuenta.

            La repetición es importante en esta comunidad. Se vuelven a contar historias, se recrean eventos y se cantan canciones. Incrustada en las historias, dramas y canciones hay verdades y lecciones que les ayudan a dar sentido a la vida. Hay una canción que cantan los niños que tiene como objetivo enseñarles sobre los peligros del fuego.        

 

          La casa está ardiendo en fuego (X2)

          Mira allí (X2)

          Fuego, fuego (X2)

          Verter agua (X2)

 

La canción es breve y pegadiza. Es un simulacro de incendio mental para los niños. Las palabras les ayudan a saber qué hacer en caso de incendio.

Pensé que nuestra habilidad para leer y escribir nos ponía en ventaja. Los entendí mal debido a nuestras diferencias. Hay tanto que todavía tenemos que aprender los unos de los otros. Con suerte, Tim y yo nos volveremos a encontrar.

Hasta que nos volvamos a leer,

Songz

Historia de dos pueblos: Bibliotecas Vivientes

Hola, amigos:

            Ha pasado algún tiempo desde la última vez que escribí. Mi amigo me llevó a dar un recorrido por su pueblo natal. Es importante que para proteger su identidad lo llamaremos Tim. Me han presentado como un amigo de Tim, de una tierra muy lejana. No podemos dejar que la gente del pueblo sepa que soy del otro lado del río. Es nuestro pequeño secreto.

Se siente como si hubiera estado aquí durante muchos años, aunque solo haya sido una semana. Es como si conociera a las personas desde hace mucho tiempo.

La ciudad está viva y muy ocupada. Tim parece conocer a todo el mundo y es conocido por todo el mundo. La gente es amable y me han dado la bienvenida a su comunidad. Incluso me dieron nombre: Vitsher z oo, Tim me dice que significa contracción nerviosa. Suena mejor en su idioma. Me dieron el nombre porque dijeron que mi sonrisa se ve nerviosa cuando saludo. Si esto es un poco confuso, déjame explicarte. De dónde provengo, nuestros saludos rara vez duran más de un minuto y, a menudo, van acompañados de una sonrisa de cortesía. Simplemente decimos: “Hola, ¿cómo estás?” y la respuesta a esta pregunta es: “Estoy bien, gracias”.

Pero no es así como lo hacen. Un saludo es una conversación en sí misma. Sus saludos son más personales. Tim explicó que un saludo estaba incompleto sin una actualización sobre la salud y la vida familiar de la persona. Recuerde que se dijo: “¡Las personas de este pueblo parecen decir mucho más!”. Dicen que soy raro porque no digo mucho, pero sonrío mucho.

Pasamos un rato con los ancianos del pueblo. Pasan las tardes contando historias sobre la ciudad. No pude evitar imaginar lo enorme que debería ser su biblioteca y los libros con toda la información. En mi ciudad natal, tendrías que pasar mucho tiempo en la biblioteca leyendo libros antes de hablar a las personas con autoridad. Los autores de su bibliografía determinaban su autoridad sobre un tema.

Tim se rió entre dientes con una sonrisa en su rostro y me dijo que habían memorizado toda la información. Lo interrumpí y le dije: “Pero tiene que haber un equipo que escriba sus palabras para las generaciones futuras. ¡De lo contrario, se perderá para siempre!”.

Desconcentrado, Tim explicó que no era necesario porque eran parte de una larga tradición. Esta era una tradición de preservar su historia de una generación a la siguiente.

Mi amigo Tim me ayudó a ver que tenían bibliotecas vivientes. La gente caminaba y respiraba enciclopedias. La suya era una tradición oral y que dieron vida a sus historias y canciones.

Me estoy preparando para mi próxima visita. Tendré la oportunidad de ver cómo aprenden los niños. Eso es todo por ahora.

 

Hasta que volvamos a leer, Songz.